This application incorporates by reference Taiwan patent application Serial No. 89211178, Filed on Jun. 29, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an adapter for a computer component of a motherboard test machine, and more particularly to a CPU adapter of the motherboard test machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Computer has become widely used in modern life. The demand for computers is increasing nowadays due to their diversity and various applications. The objective is to provide users with high quality products. Hence, quality control and tests for products play important roles in mass production.
Most manufacturers use test machines to test their newly produced components or devices. Take the motherboard for example. The motherboard is first placed on the test machine and linked to the computer components, such as peripheral equipment, apparatus, an interface card and so forth. Then the test machine starts up and detects the motherboard circuitry. The period of the testing directly influences the time for product production. Analyzing the forgoing test procedures, it takes a lot of time to insert and remove the peripheral equipment, apparatus, interface card, and so forth. Those steps, as described above, are carried through by manpower. It wastes time to assemble the test machine whenever preparing to test a motherboard. It might cause the connecting pins to become crooked and even snapped due to the negligence and frequent insertion and removal of the computer components. Therefore, using probes to connect the computer components can reduce the manpower, improve the testing efficiency and lower the component consumption rate.
Conventionally, a test machine includes a function test box, a carrier and a shingle. A probe load board upon the function test box has a number of probes on its surface. The carrier, which is disposed above the function test box and has a number of guide holes, is capable of carrying a motherboard to be tested. The locations of the guide holes, the probes, and pins on the bottom of the motherboard to be tested are interrelated. While the carrier moves downward, the probes are inserted into the guide holes exactly and connect to the pins of the motherboard to be tested. The shingle is disposed above the carrier and has a number of presser bar members or press sticks on its bottom surface wherein the press sticks are capable of fixing the motherboard to be tested on the carrier. Before testing, the computer components, such as the peripheral equipment, apparatus, and interface card, are assembled in the function test box beforehand. The function test box then couples the pins of those components to the probes on the probe load board.
In the beginning of the testing, the motherboard to be tested is placed on the carrier, and the shingle and the carrier are moved downward. The probes then move into the guide holes of the carrier exactly and are coupled to the pins on the bottom surface of the motherboard to be tested. Thereafter, the test machine proceeds to test electronically. After finishing the test, the shingle and the carrier are uplifted and another motherboard to be tested is substituted in the next test. It improves the speed of testing by utilizing the probes as compared to working by human labor to insert and remove the computer components.
However, utilizing the probes to connect the motherboard to be tested and the apparatus is suitable for low-frequency apparatus, such as the disk drive, keyboard, mouse and so on. If the computer component is high frequency, such as the Central Processing Unit (CPU), graphic card, Random Access Memory (RAM), it might cause two problems, which are as follows:
First, the high-frequency signals are prone to diminish due to the impedance of the probes.
Second, the high-frequency signals are prone to cause timing disorders due to improper matching with the impedance of the probes.
Therefore, the CPU (or other high-frequency apparatus) still has to be inserted and removed by manpower. It is not only time-consuming but also damaging to the pins of the CPU (or other high-frequency apparatus) and thus increases the cost of manufacture.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a CPU adapter for a motherboard test machine. The CPU is plugged in a socket of the device. A connection board of the device is coupled to the pins of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to be tested. It can prevent the signals of the CPU from diminishing by means of the circuit design of the connection board and keep the timing regular. Thus, it can save time that would otherwise be needed to insert and remove the apparatus by manpower, lower the hazard of damaging the computer component and decrease the demand for test tools, such as the CPU.
The invention achieves the above-identified objects by providing a CPU adapter installed in a test machine for a motherboard to be tested. The CPU adapter includes a connection board and a number of probes wherein the connection board is combined with a CPU and capable of widening the clock signal of the CPU by a widening clock circuit. The probes, disposed on and coupled to the connection board, are capable of being coupled to the pins of the motherboard to be tested. The CPU adapter further includes a number of probe-receptacles and a mounting board. The probe-receptacles are disposed on and coupled to the connection board, with the probes being inserted therein. The mounting board and the connection board are capable of fixing the probe-receptacles for not slanting.